VREDENBREGT, Rick

Stazza

‘Stazza, The Football Career of Chris Stasinowsky; Mercurial Talent, Complex Soul’, is an in-depth analysis of an Australian rules football career that included time in Western Australia and South Australia at the peak of top-level competition Australia wide pre-VFL/AFL national league expansion.

Once sought after by Richmond, ‘Stazza’, as he was affectionately known, was an electrifying footballer during the halcyon days of the 1980’s. With comparisons to the potential and ability of an early Gary Ablett snr, Peter Bosustow and modern day stars such as Toby Greene, Dustin Martin and Patrick Dangerfield, in simple terms, Stasinowsky put bums on seats.

Described as “misunderstood” by his longest serving coach and mentor, WA football icon Mal Brown, ‘Stazza’ had the rare ability to rapidly turn a game with scintillating footy.

Biographical in parts, ‘Stazza’ seeks to not only highlight, celebrate and rekindle memories of the potential and brilliance that Stasinowsky displayed on-field, but also to enlighten the reader of the various character traits that shaped him, as described by family members, teammates, coaches and opponents. Interwoven throughout the 10 chapters are some of the dominant narratives surrounding football during a tumultuous period in the game, including controversial moments and changes to the football landscape. The book also respectfully touches on Stasinowsky’s undiagnosed, but posthumously recognised, mental anguish that plagued him and which eventually lead to his sad departure.

A comprehensive career analysis with statistics and a chronological game by game history, including commentary from the day, gives the appendix section a scrapbook feel.

Chris Stasinowsky was a shooting star who made a lasting impact during his short life, not only on those who knew and loved him, but on the football fan from the other side of the fence.

Rick Vredenbregt is a passionate student of the history of Western Australia’s oldest sporting competition – the West Australian Football League (WAFL). As the code of Australian Rules gradually evolved into a full-time, professional game, following the Victorian Football League’s (VFL) expansion in 1987, other major Australian state football league histories have slowly been pushed aside and almost forgotten. This is, as a direct consequence of the VFL’s 12-team transition into the 18-team Australian Football League (AFL) behemoth we have today, and one that continues exploring further growth. The resultant AFL focused saturation of the football media landscape has endangered other competitions histories and legacy preservation.

A keen sportsman, and a passionate supporter, observer and researcher of WA football history since the age of 9, Rick decided to do his bit in trying to keep bygone eras alive. In 2013, with a view to catering for what he believed to be a disappointing void in
the ever-growing social media space of preserving the WAFL’s 140-year history (at the time of writing), Rick attempted to fill some of that void by starting a social media platform called Lost WAFL on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Substack. Unashamedly
inspired by Warren Duffy’s mega successful Lost Perth social media presence, popularity grew quickly with several thousand fellow WAFL lovers now enjoying Rick’s content from days gone by, when the WAFL was king of the state.

Rick has spent countless hours researching WAFL themes and ‘Stazza!!! Mercurial Talent, Complex Soul’, is his first book in a continued pursuit of publishing and promoting WAFL centric content that will hopefully safeguard some of the competitions rich history.